Janus 02.Redemption #Wattys2018

2.04 The Crow

"You caused her ear bleeding, didn't you? You modified my body, like you did to hers!" Ed asked Faceless.

"I implanted her tech but I wasn't the cause of its malfunction. My people are still working on your body as we speak, enhancing your new identity and are reprogramming Eden. I told you in advance that the one you lost wouldn't be the one coming back."

Ed put his hand behind his back, pulled Eden's gun and aimed at Faceless.

"You know that I have already killed people for far less than that. I am certain that you recognize that gun. It belonged to Eden. As you see, I am learning to control this environment as well. If this could kill her, it may be good enough for both of us. I think that you should give it a try. It doesn't matter since you can reboot us both, does it? Let's find out!"

Ed tried to pull the trigger but the gun stood still in the air. He tried to move it, but it was impossible.

"Thank you for pointing out Eden's modifications on the code. Those bugs are about to be removed." The gun disappeared like Shylock did before that. "Did you seriously think that we are alone right now? Your brain is half open and we are mapping your patterns."

"You are scared." Ed approached Faceless.

"No, I am not."

"If you can actually do all those things that you claim and still Eden got out of your control then her glitch is a bigger problem than you are willing to admit. You are not rebooting her back as my punishment but simply because you are incapable of doing that. It's you the one who is trapped, not us."

They were instantly moved to the bedroom. Ed witnessed himself talking to Eden all over again.

"It will be fun. I promise. Don't you trust me?" he told her as he sniffed a line of cocaine from her naked body. She looked at him surprised.

"Aren't we having fun already? You can fuck me but not our money. It's bad for business."

"Forget business! Just relax once in your lifetime. This will tame your control freak daemons."

"Are you that arrogant to believe that you can handle the rest of them once they are unleashed?"

"I bet my life on it"

"Bet mine instead. That would be fun." She replied with a wicked grin on her face as she pushed him on the bed and sniffed her part of cocaine from his back.

Both holograms stood still in silence.

"You are getting a second chance here Francis. You should be grateful because a man can hardly get a second chance. So it's your time to bet on her life again. Will you keep conquering the field of broken promises, or you are ready to make amends with your fate?"

Ed's house disappeared and they were both back at Eden's apartment. Ed didn't stand still this time. He was walking along with Eden wandering between corpses' holograms up to the moment the crow appeared and froze instantly right in front of Ed.

"Who can really tell if this was actually a crow that appeared out of nowhere and not a wolf coming after you?" Ed asked Faceless as the crow turned into a wolf and run after Faceless.

Ed opened his eyes at the operating room and stared at the people operating his face. He grabbed the tube that was inside his throat and pulled it out. People were shouting. He tried to stand up but someone administrated a tranquilizer. The last thing he heard as he was falling on the floor was:

"We locked the path! We have the virus origin! Shall we wipe out his memory now?"